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When our computers are lost or stolen we usually feel like our world’s falling apart, especially if we didn’t backup our data. All the work we did on that computer, the photos we took, the memories we saved, are gone forever. But for Sook Shin, a cancer researcher at Oklahoma University, it’s not only memories that are gone, but it also might have been a cure for cancer. …

A woman named Terri Vary was recently arrested and sentenced to seven months in jail after being caught handling stolen goods. And you’ll never believe how she was busted. Vary had denied having any knowledge of one of the items, a Sony Vaio laptop, that police were unable to recover. However, unknown to Vary, the laptop had EvoForesight monitoring software installed on it which recorded every action Vary made on the computer.

The collected information included her home address, credit card details, and passwords to social networking sites. It also recorded all emails that were sent and received as well as IM/Chat messages, websites visited and searches made. Eblaster is another great software alternative that also records all online activity, including instant messages, searches, emails and web sites visited. Like EvoSquare, Eblaster will also log computer activity and send automatic e-mail alerts to a user remotely.

Vary originally pleaded not guilty to receiving the laptop. This did not prove to be true when the data retrieved by the software installed on the laptop proved that she had indeed used it.

EvoSquare, the company who made the monitoring software, says the product was originally intended for protecting kids by allowing parents access into their cyber lives. And even though, the laptop was never recovered, and thus could not be used as evidence in court, the information retrieved from the laptop was more than enough to put Vary behind bars.

Laptops are quickly becoming a favorite on thieves’ wish-lists. But what if you could use the technology already available in your laptop to spy on the person who stole your laptop and help get it back? That was the case for Clair Fleener, a chief executive of IT outsourcer InertLogic, who was able use her stolen laptop to spy on the thief who took it and determine his location. …

If you’ve ever had your laptop stolen, then you know what a dreadful experience it can be. Even worse than losing one of your most prized, and likely most expensive possessions, is the fact that you’ve lost all that valuable data on it. Assuming you are savvy enough to keep fresh backups, the most disheartening part comes with the realization that some crook out there has all your data – your financial and personal files – and perhaps even your company’s data. …